John Bartholomew

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Some of us like being surrounded
Hemmed in
Pollutant by sin
Surrounded by these monstrosities
These towers of brick

Some like to feel more grounded
Breath the air
Escape that corporate snare
Hear the birds sing with flare
And live the life they call
In the sticks

JJB

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Soulless

Soulless;

A void that cannot be filled

JJB

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Memory

That choice you once had and failed to grasp

Love is forever

Life is not

Never let go

Of that one

Memory

JJB

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”― Mark Twain

“Right now I’m having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.”― Steven Wright

“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.”― Cormac McCarthy

“Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.”― Guy de Maupassant

“Forbidden to remember, terrified to forget; it was a hard line to walk.”― Stephenie Meyer,

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Lockdown Love

I do,
The vows that you made,
And how that love fades,
On lockdown from this virus,
We never thought it would divide us,
Just how much more can this last,
Never knowing it would spread this fast,
Been through the bad now into the rough,
But we'll carry on together with this lockdown love

JJB

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Watching the Birds

Gliding,
Just effortless,
Held up by see-through strings

One day,
will man fly
If God does grace us wings

JJB

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

2 Metre Blues

You'll stand in line,
You'll smile,
You'll politely remark,
You'll wonder, are they infected,
You'll hold in that tiny tickled cough,
You'll look at your watch,
You'll kindly clap the NHS worker at the front of the queue,
You'll think to yourself, your glad that's not you,
You'll wonder if you really need more milk,
You'll ponder about the calories and the deserts not to eat,
You'll puff your cheeks, how much longer here on my feet,
You'll be grateful it's not rations during the war
You'll thank the girl who greets you at the door

For this is a time to be grateful for the key workers and the queues
And not to be dismissive of these lifesaving 2 metre blues

#staysafe
#stayhome

JJB

John Bartholomew Apr 2020

Last Days

It's just you,
the known world has vanished,
abandoned cars with no one to drive,
you thought this day come you would ****** and survive,
but you didn't think it through

I don't even know how to make fresh bread,
swallowing hard all those words you once said,
does petrol not just come from the pumps,
and where will I drive now this world is in slump,
I really didn't think this through

The films all said there would be a beauty on the horizon,
to live my life and carry on surviving,
but these streets are empty and I'm feeling the cold,
for this is a story never to me told,
I need to think this badly through

What foods will carry on forever,
and what to eat now as the date says now or never,
am I really alone in the world and how long can I last,
as this really should be written down, portrayed,
by those in the futures passed

Last Days

JJB

“If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you'll be right.” - Anon

“Hold my hands; kiss my forehead, hug me and look in my eyes; maybe today is the last day you can do this.”― M.F. Moonzajer

“If today is all you have to live, what will you do?”― Lailah Gifty Akita